Are You Kidding Me?

In truth, one cannot entirely blame Danzo for thinking this way.

The others shared the same sentiment.

The only son of the Land of Fire Daimyo, the undisputed heir to the throne, a man of such high status and power—how could he possibly become a ninja and risk his life so easily? Furthermore, having governed Konoha for so many years, they had never heard of a Daimyo possessing ninja talent. Their ingrained way of thinking led them to believe this was merely an absurd whim, a farce staged by the Daimyo to amuse his only son.

It would suffice to find some excuse to decline.

Of course, the quartet of power clearly failed to realize the gravity of the situation.

"Since we are already gathered, I happen to have something to say."

Danzo stood up, his gaze cold and gloomy. He stared directly into the face of the Third Hokage and said in a chilling voice:

"Sarutobi, the war is over."

Seeing Sarutobi remain unmoved, Danzo raised his voice a notch. "The reputation of Sakumo is growing ever larger! On the battlefield of Sunagakure, Sakumo has achieved great merit once again!"

The Third Hokage frowned, picked up the pipe on his desk, and began to smoke in silence.

But Danzo's emotions grew more agitated as he spoke, and he pressed on relentlessly: "White Fang of the Leaf, what a grand title! His reputation now overshadows even you, the Third Hokage! What is the next step? Electing him as the Fourth?"

Utatane Koharu chimed in from the side: "Indeed, Sakumo's prestige is truly too great. Even Orochimaru, who made a name for himself on the battlefield of the Land of Rain, does not compare to the current momentum of Sakumo."

"He must be reined in."

The voices of the three grew increasingly intense, while the Third Hokage merely puffed on his pipe.

His heart was heavy with worry.

Sakumo's reputation was indeed too vast. On the battlefield of the Land of Fire, Sakumo had performed monumental deeds, accumulating far too much prestige among the ninja—prestige that had already begun to eclipse his own, with even the commoners whispering calls for a Fourth Hokage.

After long deliberation, the Third Hokage finally set down his pipe and said in a deep voice: "Sakumo has only just performed his service. If you wish to suppress him now, would that not alienate the hearts of the people?"

"Hmph! Sarutobi, you are simply too soft! If you do not suppress Sakumo's prestige now, you might as well wait to abdicate!"

Already unsettled by this matter, the Third Hokage was suddenly enraged by these words: "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Hearing this, Danzo finally lost his composure. His face turned dark, and he shouted angrily: "Sarutobi, you will regret this!"

Bang!

Danzo slammed the door and stormed out.

"Sarutobi, Danzo means well, and he is not wrong."

"Enough, I know. You may leave."

The Third Hokage took a deep drag of his pipe, his expression filled with sorrow.

At this moment, he was in the prime of his life, at the peak of his strength as a ninja. Naturally, he did not want to step down from the position of Hokage so early and retire to a life of leisure, but suppressing a meritorious official was not a decision he could easily make.

Sigh...

Ye Ning was naturally unaware of the quarrel inside the Hokage building.

At this moment, they were encountering their first trouble since leaving the capital of the Land of Fire.

Ye Ning moved a little closer to the carriage. His expression remained casual, but in reality, his body was completely tense, his attention fixed on the surrounding woods.

They had encountered ninjas.

Ye Ning found it somewhat inconceivable.

As far as he knew, in the entire world of the Hokage, there had never been an instance of an assassination attempt against a Daimyo. Even when the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had slashed the budget of Sunagakure to such an extent, things had remained peaceful.

Moreover, the Daimyo's defensive forces were not particularly strong. The reason an ordinary person could survive in a world of ninjas and hold such a high position was, in all likelihood, due to an unspoken convention.

No ninja would lay a hand on a Daimyo.

So the question remained: why would the ninjas hiding in the shadows... be targeting them?

Of course, the most ridiculous part was the skill level of these two ninjas... it was truly lackluster.

At the very least, their ability to conceal themselves was poor.

Otherwise, he would not have discovered their tracks so quickly.

"My lord~ have a grape~"

"No~ eat my grape~"

"..."

Inside the carriage, the sounds of debauchery continued, unbearable to the ear.

Ye Ning's face twitched. He had the urge to offer a warning, but he feared frightening his cheapskate father, who had always been a coward. After much thought, he lowered the hand he had raised to knock on the window.

However, constantly listening to these noises from behind the carriage was not a solution!

He was only twelve years old!

He was still a child!

Ye Ning sighed gloomily, suddenly wishing he could run into the woods and drag those two hiding ninjas out.

But seeing the fifty samurai responsible for their protection looking vigilant yet failing to notice anything, Ye Ning ultimately gave up.

If those two fellows who exposed their tracks were merely bait meant to lure someone out, that would be disastrous; it was better to wait patiently...

Fortunately, those two unlucky souls did not keep Ye Ning waiting too long.

It seemed that after a brief observation, the two could no longer restrain themselves.

"Swish, swish."

Two faint sounds of wind being pierced suddenly echoed through the forest, and two shuriken shot out, aimed directly at the carriage!

The many samurai responsible for the escort felt a blur before their eyes as two figures suddenly burst from the tranquil woods, leaping high into the air and soaring over the tall trees to crash down toward the ornate carriage.

"Assassins!"

"Protect the Daimyo!"

Though the samurai were not so easily rattled as to tremble, they instantly fell into chaos. Two of them instinctively shouted out, intending to defend, but their speed was clearly no match for the two ninja.

At the Thousand Jun moment, Ye Ning leaped into the air, landing atop the carriage. With a sweep of his sleeve, he batted away the two incoming shuriken, then descended with the momentum of a goshawk pouncing on a rabbit, his hands reaching straight for the two ninja.

Bang—

In the blink of an eye, the two ninja who had burst from the woods were pinned against a nearby tree root, knocking a few leaves from the branches.

The entire process was inexplicable. It was not until Ye Ning had completely subdued the two ninja that the Daimyo inside the carriage reacted, belatedly poking his head out from the window to peer out cautiously.

The two ninja clearly realized they had kicked an iron plate; they didn't even attempt to resist, instead crying out repeatedly:

"Spare us! Spare us! We only wanted to rob some wealth, we had no intention of taking lives..."

"We just saw this carriage was exquisite and wanted to pull a heist to pay off our gambling debts... spare us..."

!?

Are you kidding me?

The two of you, ninja, within the Land of Fire, running over to rob the Daimyo of the Land of Fire just to pay off gambling debts?

Ye Ning did not answer, his gaze naturally falling upon the forehead protectors worn by the pair.

A scratch through the center was clearly visible.

Ye Ning's expression tightened instantly, and he turned his head, wary. "Missing-nin?"

Moreover, the symbol on these forehead protectors... why did it feel somewhat familiar?

Missing-nin from Konoha?

Missing-nin from Konoha, within the Land of Fire, robbing the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?